“He became nearly as good a buddy, as good a master, as good men […]”(Stave Four). The fresh repetition of ‘good’ features what Scrooge was – he could be don’t worst which can be form to everyone, it doesn’t matter who they really are to him – friend or servant which suggests he could be no more abusing his stamina given that an employer.

They should “reduce steadily the excessive population.” In one of Scrooge’s most cutting remarks, he refers to the work of Victorian academic Thomas Malthus when he argues that if poor people can’t afford to live then they should hurry up and die to decrease the “surplus population.” In this, like Malthus, he argues that those who cannot afford to live are surplus to requirements and shouldn’t be kept by the state. In many ways this is at the heart of a lot of Dickens’ philosophy: he argued that if we are to keep the poor alive, we should at least give them the chance to exist with the self-respect and dignity required to make themselves feel human. Here, Scrooge falls back on a “final solution” or sorts, though he really only reflects what society was doing anyway by ignoring the poor and then starving them into submission. These words are turned back on his by the Ghost of Christmas Present when he decides he would like to help the starving children.

“prisons? workhouses?” Here, Scrooge claims that poor people should be put find safety in “prisons” or “workhouses.” This was common practice in Victorian England, where poor people were expected to live in the most wretched places imaginable if they couldn’t afford to look after themselves. It is also interesting to note that Scrooge draws a direct comparison between prisons and workhouses – as though there was no difference between the two, suggesting perhaps that he thinks being poor was a crime!

Were there zero

I can not manage to make sluggish someone merry. Here, Scrooge argues that he “can’t afford” to make “idle people” merry. In this quote it becomes clear that Scrooge sees everything in relation to money. He claims that he “can’t afford” to make people merry – as though bringing merriment had some kind of a cash value. Here, he clearly fails to recognise the contribution that Bob Cratchitt makes to his business, or recognise that anyone who works tough in a low paid job. This quote really highlights how narrow-minded Scrooge is.

He was as hard and evident as flint from which no steel ever struck out large flames In this simile from the opening of the book, Scrooge is described as “hard” – which suggests that he won’t change for other people, he’s not malleable – and says he is “sharp” which suggests that as well as being incapable of change, is, in fact, quite dangerous or could hurt you. Dickens compares him to flint, which is both hard and sharp, but wants to clarify that Scrooge doesn’t have any of the redeeming features that flint has, such as being able to start a “generous fire .” In other words: Scrooge has all the bad sides of flint, but none of the good.

He as well as means the individuals quicker well-off than simply him just like the “idle” which suggests he notices a direct dating anywhere between money and you will works rate

If that spirit goes not forth in life, it is doomed to do so after death. Marley explains that his punishment for not travelling more when he was alive was being “condemned” to do so after death. Here, the verb condemned emphasises the extent to which this is a punishment: like a condemned man, he is forced to see and understand all the suffering in the world, but be incapable of doing anything about it. This reflects Dickens’ largely humanitarian view of the world, which believed that even humans like Scrooge and Marley were, in their hearts, good; he believed that once people felt understood and loved – in the case of Scrooge – or had died – in the case of Marley – that everyone would fall back on their innate humanity and want to help those in need.